Found alive, though missing his left arm from the fall from a HYDRA train, Bucky Barnes was placed in the hands of Arnim Zola. Zola put him through the Winter Soldier Program, which used brainwashing techniques, physiological enhancements, and intense training to turn him into one of HYDRA's greatest weapons.
Ever since becoming the Winter Soldier, Bucky has been known for his cybernetically-enhanced prosthetic left arm. It was originally given to him by HYDRA, but the Wakandans gave him a vibranium arm after the original was destroyed.
In the 2022 Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, each member of the team gets a personalized gift. Rocket, following his tradition of collecting metal body parts, is unexpectedly given Bucky's arm. More impressively, it's actually the newer black and gold vibranium arm that Bucky got from Wakanda.
Summary. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special showed Nebula giving Bucky's arm to Rocket as a Christmas gift, but it was never explained what Rocket did with it. One theory posited that Nebula's new arm in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was made by Rocket using Bucky's stolen prosthetic.
The fact of the matter is, the arm still functions as a part of his body. The superpowered enhancements do not change the fact that he will still naturally experience pain when his body is put under such stress, especially when the arm is attached to so many nerves that could've been damaged from losing his actual arm.
James “Bucky” Barnes being an old man for 4 mins straight (tfatws spoilers)
How did Bucky not age?
Bucky Barnes, like Steve Rogers, has lived for several decades due to cryogenic freezing and the super-soldier serum. Bucky's life expectancy could potentially surpass Steve's 116 years, depending on circumstances. Despite outwardly aging at the same rate as Steve, Bucky can still live for at least another 80 years.
While at the HYDRA Siberian Facility, Barnes' prosthetic arm was destroyed by Tony Stark's unibeam, after Stark was manipulated by Helmut Zemo and attacked Barnes and Steve Rogers.
His family is long dead, he has to wear gloves to cover his vibranium murder arm, and even his friendships are rooted in a desire to atone for past sins. Obviously I have never experienced what the Winter Soldier has, but I do find my own trauma is often exposed on first dates.
Nebula simply wrestled the arm off Bucky in the name of Christmas. Gunn also confirmed that the Guardians of the Galaxy purchased Knowhere, the planet where part of the special is set.
With all this armstory between them, when fans saw Nebula had a new arm in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, they suspected it might be related to Bucky's stolen/borrowed limb. But James Gunn has confirmed that is not the case.
Rogers deeply mourned the loss of his friend, assuming him dead. However, Barnes actually survived the fall thanks to the experimentation Zola had performed on him, and it was HYDRA who would make use of the man who would come to be known as the Winter Soldier...
While the original metal version was strong, it's clear that Bucky's vibranium arm has a few key upgrades, which are on display in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. As explained previously by Howard Stark, vibranium is both stronger and lighter than steel, and also absorbs vibrations.
And Rocket expressed great interest in “getting that arm” off Bucky, for sale or not. In The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, the story of Bucky and Rocket continued. Nebula gifted Rocket Bucky's arm to make his holiday dreams come true.
Bucky lost his arm by falling off the train in the movie Captain America: The First Avenger. Steve failed to save Bucky from his fall, and after that, Steve thought Bucky had died.
The fact that Bucky did wear the arm is why it disappeared according to the Russo brothers (via Comicbook), as they stated anything that was part of someone's identity would disappear when snapped.
On December 16, 1991, Barnes was reanimated from a Cryostasis Chamber at the HYDRA Siberian Facility and forced into the Memory Suppressing Machine to brainwash him while his handler, Colonel Vasily Karpov, recited his trigger words from the Winter Soldier Book.
Bucky, too, is a military man, and shares the same experience. So, the logical conclusion is that Bucky sleeps on the floor because, to him, a mattress is disturbingly marshmallow-like, threatening to swallow him whole.
Who is Bucky's girlfriend in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier?
Other relatives. Leah is a character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, featured in the Disney+ series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. She is a waitress at Izzy, who goes on a date with Bucky Barnes. She makes her debut in the first episode and is portrayed by Miki Ishikawa.
The MCU has made it clear Bucky suffers from PTSD, considering he was somewhat conscious of his actions under HYDRA's control. By not being cleared of those Winter Soldier memories, he's haunted when his mind is the most vulnerable: while he's sleeping.
In Captain America: Civil War, Tony is distraught after finding out that Bucky killed his parents while he was operating as the Winter Soldier. When Steve decides to side with his best friend Bucky, which leads to an all-out war between Iron Man and Captain America, Stark asks Cap to give back his shield.
After being bitten by a radioactive spider, Peter Parker gains superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, as well as his infamous Spider-Sense. Spider-Man is objectively stronger than a Super Soldier, as he was easily able to hold off a blow from Bucky Barnes.
According to Google, comics Bucky was born March 10, 1917. If we presume that's the case for movie Bucky, he'd have been 24 when the US declared war against Japan and 28 when the war was in it's closing days, which is generally the time frame for when he disappeared.
Conversation. Actor Sebastian Stan has shared this video of him and his friends celebrating the 107th birthday of Bucky Barnes (Bucky was born on March 10, 1917 in the MCU and would be celebrating his 107th birthday on March 10, 2024)!
For details of the version of Bucky Barnes seen in the video game Captain America: Super Soldier' please see here: James Barnes (Earth-TRN999). Bucky counts the years he was Blipped when adding up his age, given that he was born in 1917 and that he states that his age is "106" years old in 2024.
